Mountain gorillas, which happen to be our genetic cousins, have been significant part of conservation efforts during the past several decades. However, what’s really sad is that in spite of all the hard work put in by conservation scientists, right now our planet is home to less than 900 mountain gorillas.

According to experts, the mountain gorillas are on the verge of becoming extinct primarily due to habitat destruction and poaching. Genetic sequencing of these animals has revealed how severely these threats have affected their genome.